Mega Brands shares soar following Halo deal

The firm's shares rocketed 123 per cent to 87 Canadian cents by late yesterday morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The global licensing agreement will see Mega Brands develop construction toys based on its new game, Halo Wars, a real-time, strategy game based on the Halo universe. The agreement was brokered by Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising, licensing agent for the Halo franchise.

Under the global agreement, MEGA Brands will develop the first-ever construction toy sets based on the key characters and vehicles of Halo Wars under the Mega Bloks umbrella. The video game will hit shelves worldwide early this year. The Mega Bloks licensed product offerings will make their retail debut worldwide in the summer.

Vic Bertrand, chief innovation officer of Mega Brands said:

“We’re excited to have this exclusive opportunity to partner with Microsoft and 20th Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising and build on the immense success of the Halo franchise. We look forward to bringing the iconic characters and vehicles of the video game to life through Mega Bloks.”

“We consider Mega brands to be one of the premiere leaders in the constructible toys and games category. Their reputation for creativity and innovation is inspiring and we look forward to seeing it applied to the legendary Halo franchise.”

Developed by Ensemble Studios, the creators of the Age of Empires series, Halo Wars was designed specifically for Xbox 360 and brings a genre that has typically thrived on the PC seamlessly to consoles.